“H-H-Huh?” I stutter. It is too late to realize what I’m feeling towards him. I like him, he likes Yuri. But, what do I expect? For him to like me? That will never happen. Ever. Nothing’s going to change if I say I like him. “Ah, sure,” I say.

Yes, I know to myself that it will be hard for me to see them two interacting when we three go out. I can foresee it. But, it’s okay.

“Wow, thank you,” he says mildly. I glance at him and I see him smiling to himself while he grabs the paper bags and walk towards his room. I sigh as I think about the probability of them two being together. Come to think of it, they do look good together. Yuri’s face and body is perfect, and so does Minho’s. But, I also think of the coming time wherein Minho will discover his past.

I shake my head as my thoughts rumble in my brain. I walk to my bed and I let myself fall on my bed.

I open my eyes and look at my pink clock on the side. It’s already eight in the morning. The sun has already risen and I get off my bed. I stretch my body and yawn. I realize that I fell asleep yesterday, maybe because I was too tired from exploring the mall. I do my daily rituals and I get out of my room, only to see Minho preparing the breakfast, again. “Didn’t I tell you that I’ll cook and you’ll clean? It’s our agreement,” I say.

“I’m sorry, Jinri,” he says. He takes off his apron and walks towards me. “It’s not my fault that I keep on oversleeping,” he teases me. He shows his tongue and does his smile that never fails to make my heart race. A few more smiles from him and my heart’s going to explode.

I roll my eyes and I zombie-walk to the table and sit to eat the breakfast he made. It is, again, his overly delicious omelet. I swear he can join Masterchef Korea if he keeps doing these dishes.

He sits in front of me and he hands me the rice. I get it and I ask, “Any progress?” I know he knows what I’m talking about.

“I remembered one thing last night,” he says.

My heart skipped a beat, because I am giddy that he’s making a progress quicker than I expected. “Would you mind sharing it to me?” I ask. I place the rice on the table and I grab the ketchup.

“It’s just a fragment,” he says. “I remember I’m in a car listening to Love of My Life. I don’t know if I was crying, but it felt like it was a sad memory.” He pauses for a while as he stares at the food. “That’s it. That’s what I can remember.”

One thing is for sure—Queen’s song made an impact to him. And behind that song is also a great part of his life. It’s like we’re solving a jigsaw puzzle that pictures his life. We’re not half-complete, but we’re getting there. “Maybe we should go to a psychiatrist. Maybe they’ll make your progress quicker.”

He shakes his head and says, “No.” He eats the omelet and rice and chews it.

“Why?” I ask in bedazzlement. He swallows his food and drinks his glass of water.

“Because it’s costly,” he says. “You have debts and I don’t want to add into that.”

“You said you’ll pay me afterwards.”

“But I don’t want you to suffer throughout this phase.”

My heart stopped for a moment. Why does he care about me before himself? It’s for his good. “But—”

“I prefer remembering it… by myself… and probably by your help, too. No psychiatrists or any other people,” he says. If he decides to recover by himself, I can’t do anything about it. I can’t push him.

“Okay, then.”

It’s already afternoon in a Monday and my classes already ended. While I was fixing my things on my table in the now-empty classroom, I see Soo-jung in my peripheral view walking towards me. I think I already know why she’s here.

“Ms. Jinri!” she greets me. I look up and I see her grinning and waving her hand at me. I smile back and I continue fixing my things.

“Why?” I ask. “Taemin?”

She nods as her smile turns to a frown. I chuckle as I slowly shake my head. It was just last month when I knew that she likes my brother. Whenever I have my lecture on their class, I can’t help but see her staring at him while smiling. I found it funny and cute, so I asked her afterwards. She denied it at first but she gave up and asked me to keep it a secret, and I said yes. With a bubbly personality and optimistic view, Soo-jung can make my brother less… sad. I know my brother—he may be smart, but he lacks friends. He barely smiles and he always appears dead—even with my family.

She leans on my table and looks up. She sighs and says, “Why does he hate me?”

“He doesn’t hate you,” I say. “At least from what I know.”

“Then why does he keep ignoring me?”

“Taemin has always been like that. He doesn’t talk to people that much, but if he finds you interesting, then he’ll talk to you.”

Suddenly, sparkles appear in her eyes and her face near me in surprise. “Really? So, if he talks to me, it means he likes me?” she asks in bliss.

“I think you misunderstood the word interesting,” I mumble. But, I think she did not hear me as she squealed and jumped in front of me. Her ponytail kept bouncing as her eyes are close and her smile never wears off. I chortle as I wait for her to tone down her feelings.

After a minute, she stops and asks me, “Ms. Jinri, do you also like someone?” She smiles at me mischievously and says, “I’m sure you like someone right now!”

I sigh and smile as I lean back on my chair. “I think we’re on the same situation.”

“JINJJA?” she shouts. Her voice echoes the small classroom. I gesture her to be quiet and she quickly abides. I nod and she asks me, “Who is this guy?”

“It’s a secret,” I say as I wink. I admit, I poorly mocked what Minho did last Friday to me. It’s really a charming and cute gesture.

“Unfair,” she says as she cross her arms and pout her lips. She tut and says, “Anyway, I’ll get going now! Goodbye and thank you!”

I bid goodbye and she leaves the classroom. As soon as I put the books and my pencil case on my bag, I quickly leave the classroom, too. I hurry down the stairs and I scan my ID for the school to record my time out. As I walk out of the school, someone grabs me on my wrist. I look to my right and I see Jinki, smiling at me with his eyes barely seen; only making a line. “Want to go have a snack?”

“I-I need to go home,” I say.

“Let’s go,” he says and laughs. He drags me forward. I thought that we’re going to the bus stop, but I was wrong. He directs me to the convenience store. We sit at the table near the window and he buys two ramen. After minutes, we eat it and we talk about what happened earlier.

“Jinri…” he mumbles as we are walking on the sidewalk.

“Hm?” I ask as I look at him walk in front of me and stop me.

“Jinri…” he says. It seems like he can’t let out what he needs to say. I suddenly remember Minho in him. I remember how he was too shy to say what he needs to say to me and how he was careful on everyt—

“Jinri, I like you.”